A Brave Story
by FictionWeaver
Summary: In a fantasy filled world Ranma, Daisuke and Hiroshi try to escape a mysterious beast and maybe finish their mission in one piece… – A Ranma 1/2 Fic heavily influenced by WoW and FFTactics. Ranma/Akane - REWRITTEN -
1. Chapter 1  Of Wolves and Men

A Brave Story

Author Notes: I have several warnings for you and first among them is the fact that this is my first Fic, and that English is my second language. This is a Ranma/Fantasy story and I am stealing from every author under the sun and hope to get away with it. I used to be a big fan of World of Warcraft, you will see a lot of elements from that game, and if you pay attention you might even catch something from Final Fantasy Tactics.

This is a R/A Fic; you might see other pairings, though at this moment none have been planned yet. If you really believe that Ranma ½ or any of its characters belong to me you need some serious help. Ranma belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, WoW is property of Blizzard Entertainment, and Final Fantasy Tactics is property of Square Soft.

The main idea for this piece came to me in 2007, for personal reasons not much has been done since. Nowadays (2011) the story is in the process of being polished and some of it will be rewritten. Do not expect it to be updated very often, but it will be finished. Eventually.

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><p><strong>A Brave Story<strong>

Chapter One: Of Wolves and Men

_Alesmerad plains, two miles north of the Ramir River._

Hiroshi halted suddenly and tried to regain his breath. After finding refuge behind a bush-covered hill he looked around frantically, his partner Daisuke, dropped to the floor behind him looking equally exhausted. Their ragged breath and sooth-laden clothes being evidence for their present struggle.

Daisuke -the taller of the two- clutched between his arms a tightly-bound, leather package, while his friend held a short sword at the ready. The battered pair sat in silence for a few minutes in an attempt to come to grips with the situation. The red sun was hiding over the horizon while a cool breeze ran among the green grasses of Alesmerad.

After a few minutes, Hiroshi crawled carefully until he could safely see over the hill and to the plains below. Not willing to risk their hiding spot he had to make do with the poor visibility that his position afforded him. "Do you think they will come after us Dai? We must have traveled at least forty miles before we lost the horses…"

"I don't know Hiro. Did you see how fast they moved?" Daisuke's disturbed gaze fell to the ground. "God what the hell were those things?" His eyes haunted, saw not the soil and the grass under their knees, but the terrible images of their comrades -and the soldiers of the mighty Scarlet Guard- being cut down like lambs at a slaughterhouse.

Hiroshi moved back and keeping his position low turned around to see his friend. After looking at him for a second, he knew that the haunted look on Daisuke's face might be found on a mirror, had he one to look at.

"I… I think they were of the Musk, the beast men from the West. I had never seen one before, but the stories they tell…" Hiroshi looked nervously at his belly, where his leather armor had been shredded by the sharp claws of a wolf-like man. The creature had been huge; standing upright and at least half a meter taller than himself. Only his good luck and the inch-thick armor prevented his flesh from being ripped apart and from letting his guts be spilt on the floor. "I just can't imagine why they would be all the way here, their lands are over a thousand miles away."

Daisuke tried to find a more comfortable position to lay on the rough ground. He wished they could move down the hill, where the taller grass would cushion them better and make for a more endurable situation. Giving it up as a lost cause, he turned to Hiroshi looking even more upset. "Do you think that some of the others made it?"

Not feeling confident to answer one way or another, Hiroshi thought about their weeklong journey from Diamond Fortress. It had all started as an exciting change of pace from all their dull assignments back at the Fortress, or the slightly better courier missions to and from Nerima City. Lord Rezla himself had requested for a small contingent from the Obsidian Knights, as an attachment to his larger, Scarlet Guard squadron.

Even though it seemed strange to ask for a group of less experienced soldiers to escort a battle-hardened elite force like the Scarlet Guard, it was explained that they would go as support only, to serve as a scout unit. So it was then that with minimal fuss, Hiroshi, Daisuke and three other men were dispatched from the Fortress. Most of them had no real combat experience, and with their leader – Lord Saotome's own son – younger than some of them, nobody expected them to see real action other than the normal necessities expected from a long journey.

At first, the objective of the mission had been declared to be on a need to know basis. After a few days of travel and a little persuasion, Hiroshi had discovered that the reason of the long journey was no other than one more lame courier mission, and while this one was much more entertaining than any other in the past, it still irked their somewhat reckless leader to no end. Ranma Saotome, who from the beginning wanted nothing to do with the mission itself, had been ready to leave everything behind in a mad rush back to the Fortress to have a little chat with his 'Old Man'.

In retrospective, Hiroshi wished they had done so.

Daisuke was looking at the package in his hands a bit dubiously. Earlier in the day, when captain Ranma had thrown the object at him while parrying the blow from one of the beasts and told them to escape, they assumed it was what had prompted the attack on their party. Two days earlier, it had been given to the Scarlet Guard at the edge of the forest to the north, by a decrepit-looking old lady that balanced her tiny body on a gnarled staff, which still looked in better condition than she did. At the time, she was with two -obviously female- figures covered in cloaks from head to toe.

The package -unimportant as it looked- had been kept inside a tent with three armed men at all times. While the Scarlet Guard had always behaved in a very professional way, the moment the package had been delivered to them their countenances changed, and everybody seemed to act with more intensity, a fact that somewhat alarmed the group from the Fortress.

"Should we go back and see if we can find any of them?" The hesitant voice of his comrade distracted Hiroshi from his reverie. "I don't feel like traveling for weeks with no supplies and we haven't seen any of the creatures since we left the camp this morning."

Hiroshi thought for a moment before answering. "I'm not sure that's a good idea Dai." He looked over the hill and towards the river. "There are some trees near the river bank, we should be able to find some cover there for tonight, and tomorrow we can decide on what to do."

Daisuke nodded, he too was exhausted.

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><p>He knew his current form was incapable of showing feelings other than fear or rage, yet he also knew his glee would be obvious even to creatures with senses as pathetic and dulled as those possessed by men. If their sense of smell were at least a tenth of a fraction as powerful as his, they would not only smell, but see his bloodlust in beautifully detailed color.<p>

He considered himself to be a hunter, and of all the prey he had ever hunted, none gave him the delicious satisfaction that killing men did. Their expressions and smell of fear were intoxicating. These two would prove to be particularly so, after making him work so hard to find them.

So he ran. He ran and jumped, and he also sniffed the air knowing the scent was fresh -no older than a few hours- which for one with experience such as his was proving to be child's play. His strong muscular body was perfect for the chase. His long stride made long-travel easy, while his keen eyes afforded him good visibility even under the dim light of the cloud-covered moon.

If any creature saw him, it would think that he was a wolf, though no mere wolf could be as big as a horse or stronger than a bear. His fangs were thick at the base but long and sharp like curved daggers, while his messy mane gave an air of madness to his countenance.

He slowed down to a stop next to a small hill. His prey had obviously spent some time in the small patch of grass between the bushes. Yes, he could smell their sweat and fear. He looked around for a moment, his long ears twitched and his nose sniffed. Water. Running water. Most likely a river and his prey had gone on that direction.

Coriander –for that was his name- started at a somewhat sedate pace on the human's trail, his long canine strides eating up the distance. The longer he kept his pace the louder the running water seemed to be and the sharper the smell of human fear became. After several minutes of travel he could finally see a small copse of trees at a distance. Being several feet high and with a healthy amount of branches, the trees seemed to be the perfect hideout for a night of rest that no doubt was the reason behind the human stench calling to him. A few feet away from the trees the river stream laid –twenty five to thirty feet wide- it's current flowing from the mountains in the west to the sea in the east.

Quickening his pace Coriander did not have to conceal his presence or his scent any longer, by then the clouds had dispersed, and he could clearly see the moon sitting on the sky in all its magnificence. Allowing a deep instinct to take hold of him he gave a loud, sharp howl in reverence to it, and to the kill that was about to take place.

The two humans were so startled by his melodious war-cry, that the larger of the two fell from one of the lower branches. The smaller one distressed, woke up from the fitful sleep that only prey could truly appreciate, and jumped from the same branch. As soon as it touched ground, it dashed madly towards the river, leather-bound package tightly clutched between its arms… Oh yes this one would go down first, he could see it… fifty feet… forty… thirty… he could taste it…

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><p>Daisuke could barely breath from the shock of hitting the ground with such force. Even then, the pain barely registered over the terrible chill caused by the monstrous mix between a howl and a bark that he had just heard. Picking up the sword and turning around, he could hear Hiroshi running in the other direction screaming obscenities rarely heard from the mild mannered squire. What he saw then froze him to the spot. An enormous, six-foot tall creature resembling a wolf was charging towards them. Its huge, dark eyes stared holes trough his soul with burning intensity while its fangs were bared in a mixture of fierceness and fury. It leaped once… twice… then a massive jump… <em>Holy shit... <em>

An immense explosion rocked the copse of trees. One moment the huge wolf was flying through the air on a collision course with Hiroshi, on the next, it disappeared between a massive ball of dark-purple flames. The last thing Daisuke felt after being thrown twenty feet backwards and into the air, was the shrapnel against his body and the chilling embrace of cold water before he knew no more.

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><p>Coriander howled in unrestrained fury. The burning pain was forgotten amid the shifting soreness of going from his beast form, into his more agile and dangerous, humanoid form. He could identify the burning smell of his flesh mixed with the foul stench of dark magic, previously witnessed among the dark shamans of his homeland.<p>

He had barely touched the ground in a crouch, when his shackles raised once more. With another mighty push of his legs he jumped twenty feet into the air. This time he could clearly see the massive build up of dark energy and then the two beams; one from the ground and up and the other from twenty five feet in the air and down, meeting each other in a huge pillar of purple flamed explosion.

He had to dodge and summersault to avoid two more explosions before he had any idea of what was attacking him. The feel and scent of his aggressor were both young and ancient. Even then, he could not see more than a shadowed silhouette of a longhaired man, but that was all it took. The next time he felt the buildup of the -by now familiar- dark energy, he lunged forward. Ignoring the shockwave and shrapnel hitting his back, he attacked with a massive swipe of his claws expecting to cut his attacker in two. He was surprised to see his arms blocked by a set of short swords, more resembling of long, oversized daggers. The glint of a dark glow on the metal alarmed him to the fact that they were no mere, mundane weapons.

After an intense exchange of blows and counterblows, Coriander was amazed to see how even though he dwarfed the masked man –for it was wearing a dark face-mask that covered most of its face- by at least two feet and two hundred pounds, it was still able to hold its own in such a physical battle. What amazed him even more, was that it was moving just as fast as Coriander himself.

Thinking about his previous prey and main objective, Coriander was almost caught of guard when a new -even more massive- buildup of energy came tearing from the sky and blew up the tree he had been standing on, in a million toothpick-sized pieces. He was barely touching ground again and getting ready for a counter attack when his instincts screamed at him to jump once more. Looking back, he was relieved that he did so, for on the ground, on the same spot where he had been standing less than a second ago, a big dark blob was raising from the soil. It was just as tall as he himself was, and after a few seconds it took a shape that somewhat resembled a humanoid. Thick muscular arms joined a torso, that instead of legs seemed to have a long robe of the same dark material that faded once it touched the ground in shadows. One word came to his mind. _Voidwalker_.

He turned and looked at the masked man. Its blue eyes, being the only visible feature, were set in a determined gaze. It looked young, but was uncommonly strong and moved more like he and his people did, than any human had a right to. He could still smell the other two across the river and even though one of them was unconscious, Coriander didn't think he could get to them before this new human, or the shadow demon, acted against him.

Keeping his guard up he forced himself to speak the human tongue, and addressed the masked man in a heavily accented growl. "Who the hell are you, warlock?" Motioning with his head toward the other two, he continued. "Why do you protect them? Men such as yourself rarely provide protection for weaklings like them."

The young warlock -for it could barely be past childhood- answered in a strong voice that betrayed no fear. "That is none of your concern Musk," Coriander could see the arrogant smirk even trough the dark mask. "You have thirty seconds to leave before I kick your ass!"

The wolf-man could not help but grin menacingly. "Oh? So you know about us?" He laughed in a deep, bark-like tone. _He is brimming with confidence; lets show the runt._ "No matter. You will not live to tell the tale!" He had to be fast to avoid the Voidwalker, and more importantly, the youngling's own magnificent defenses, but he knew he could do it. No mere child could hope to stand against the might of the Musk Dynasty.

Gathering his remaining strength in to his legs and claws, he jumped forty feet into the air. "WOLF FANG SLASH!" Once he reached his maximum height, Coriander shot down at an incredible speed, covered in a deep yellow glow and barreling down like a boulder-sized meteor.

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><p>Hiroshi shivered and fell to his knees. The water was colder than he had expected. He was glad that he had been able to get both, Daisuke's unconscious body and the package, to this side of the river. More than once he had almost convinced himself to let the package be taken away by the current in favor of saving his and Daisuke's lives, but the burden of knowing how many brave men had died trying to protect it, left him with no heart to do so.<p>

He was still confused by the explosions going off at the other side, and he still didn't know if it was safe to wait and take a breather. What he knew was that in his current condition, he could not move another finger even if that massive wolf were to be found chewing happily on his foot.

He turned to Daisuke in worry. The exhausted youth felt somewhat relieved that even though his friend was unconscious, he was still breathing deeply and looked to be merely sleeping. That first concussion-wave had hit him pretty hard, even though he had been a good ways further than Daisuke from the explosion. _What the hell is going on over there? Who is setting off all those firewo… _Hiroshi was interrupted from his musings by a deep guttural roar, followed by a massive backlash that threw him on his behind.

"WOLF FANG SLASH!"

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><p>Coriander breathed deeply and smirked. He could feel his body completely drained of strength, and even though just opening his eyes seemed to be a challenge, he had done it. His nose would not lie to him and it was telling him that a good amount of human blood had been spilled tonight. He breathed again for good measure, and felt almost giddy with the excitement of victory. No mere human brat could ever defeat him.<p>

Just before he decided to open his eyes and take a look; a sharp, deep-freezing chill went up his spine, then he felt the familiar build-up of dark energy. His eyes shot open in an instant and he was both amazed and terrified at what he beheld in front of him.

Indeed, human blood had been spilled tonight, but his young opponent wasn't out of the fight yet. Coriander was standing in front of the youngling. His right claw deep to the knuckles inside the human's shoulder. It had its eyes closed and was clutching at his wrists, but instead of the expected scream of agony, it had a deep frown of concentration upon it's masked features.

That was when he recalled his first impression of the young human. Its scent had been both young and ancient, and while he had forgotten about it during the heat of battle, it came back and hit him like an iceberg. It was then that Coriander, leader of the Wolf Pack of the Musk, heard the end of a muttered sentence.

"…Unstable Corruption…"

Soft as they were, the words hit him with the force of a stampede.

Pain like he had never felt before invaded his body. His skin was fire and his flesh was charred to the bone. His blood became burning oil inside his veins, and his brain was being eaten by the most foul of creatures. His eyes shot open in agony and as he pulled his claw, the wounded human fell to the ground. Coriander looked at his arms and body and he could see no flames, no worms eating his flesh, and his ears were not filled to the brim by brain eating insects. Yet it did not matter; for a pain, a torment that had never been suffered by creature -beast or man- was eating him from the inside. His body and head burned and his soul was chilled by the most terrible of northern winds.

He clawed at his skin and pulled his hair and closed his eyes, but darkness brought no comfort, for deep inside his mind, he saw it: _Dark, massive empty plains and in the middle, a monstrous entity. Bigger than a mountain, ancient and -more terrible still- it's shadow; a dim, greenish-aura that consumed with plague everything it touched, his land, the lands of his ancestors, the Musk. The massive creature moved slow and was unstoppable, everything on its path became barren and was consumed, the men, women and children alike…_

Coriander, in his terrible afflicted state could see nothing but the terror in his mind. He did not feel when his body, in an unconscious attempt at finding a refuge from the fear and pain, reverted into his wolf form. He did not see the stricken look on the young man that could not believe what he had done. He did not even realize when his crazed body began a frantic run to the west, and to his people, in search for deliverance from his affliction, where there was none to be had.

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><p>He tried to stand up but was too exhausted. His shoulder hurt like a bitch. He wished he hadn't had to sacrifice Thognos; the demon was bound to be pissed the next time he summoned him. A repeat of the last time he fought those thugs on the way to Nerima seemed imminent. The little shit had refused to help him, and instead of protecting him, the blue turd had the gall to cheer his enemies. <em>And you call yourself a warlock, well; at least in your mind you do, it wouldn't be good if the Old Man found out…<em>

Having to fight those ugly sons of bitches earlier in the morning hadn't been a walk in the park either, but at least then he had some help from the Scarlet Buffoons. Arrogant bastards that they were, he still felt bad about the ones who were slaughtered, they fought for something they believed in. Not unlike him.

Now why didn't the Old Man tell him about these Musk weirdoes. He had most likely lost Ebisu because they were not ready for such an assault, and as far as he knew, even Gosunkugi might be dead. The last time he saw him, a Scarlet Buffoon was dragging the underfed squire to a safer position behind other members of the Scarlet Brigade.

The young man removed his mask and tried to stand one more time. After a while he was able to manage a standing position without falling to the floor in dizziness. Ok, so he had lost a lot of blood. Being impaled on the shoulder by an eight-foot tall monster might qualify as a life-threatening event, but he wasn't on the mood to take bullshit. Not even in the form of his own body trying to tell him to take it easy.

He took a step, and then two; _lather, rinse, repeat…_

After struggling for a few seconds he was able to get close to one of the few surviving trees and sit on its massive roots. He pulled out a small ceramic jar from his side pouch, and with his fingers, took out a big dollop of the green looking ointment. Gritting his teeth he applied it to the wound on his shoulder. _Grrr son of a bitch! Now I remember why I have to be more careful when fighting bastards like that Wolf-guy. Getting your wounds fixed is sometimes more painful than actually getting wounded…_

Twice he had to remind himself that men do not cry, even if the closest things to human beings that might bear witness to his weakness, were the two unconscious, half-assed squires on the other side of the river. _I should give them a break, they sure kicked ass today. They never lifted a sword against the Musk, but were able to stay ahead until I could help them. That took some balls._

And help them he did. Things might not have turned out as planed, but they still had that oh-so-important package in their possession. Ok, so he had had to use his little _gift _a little more than he would have liked to, but under the circumstances it had been his only option. And the only _person_ to actually bear witness to it was running away like the devil was behind him trying to light his tail on fire. He was damned if even the crazy Musk would be able to get information out of that one.

The young man tried shifting on the roots to get a better position for some much-needed sleep. He was dreading the next day with Hiroshi and Daisuke; they weren't the sharpest knives in the pouch, but even they would have realized that this had not been the Furinkan Academy Festival, four months before it was scheduled to be, and that those explosions sure as hell hadn't been fireworks.

And worst of all; what the hell happened when he tried his _new little trick_ on the Wolf guy? Master Happosai never said it would be so… effective, much less so against such a seasoned warrior as that Wolf guy was bound to be. He was going to have to talk to that Old Fart too.

"I'm never gonna hear the end of it if Ranko and the Tomboy ever find out…" _sigh, who am I kidding? _"…when they find out."

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><p>Voidwalker: One of the many demons summoned by the warlock class in World of Warcraft. Its main purpose, is to defend its master by keeping the attention of their enemies on itself while the warlock finishes them off. Voidwalkers can take a lot of punishment but their attack power is lower than some of the other demon classes. It has a humanoid shape with muscular arms, its lower body resembles a long robe that disappears in shadows. When walking, it glides over the terrain at a considerable pace. Most of them are of a dark-bluish color.<p>

07/18/2011

I would like to thank anybody who got this far in the story, and would also like to encourage you to review. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. I still don't know how often I will be able to update, but I will try not to let it take forever.

FictionWeaver


	2. Chapter 2  The City within the City

A Brave Story

Author Notes: As previously warned, English is my second language. This is a Ranma/Fantasy story and I am stealing from every author under the sun and hope to get away with it. I used to be a big fan of World of Warcraft, you will see a lot of elements from that game, and if you pay attention you might even catch something from Final Fantasy Tactics.

This is a R/A Fic; you might see other pairings, though at this moment none have been planned yet. If you really believe that Ranma ½ or any of its characters belong to me you need some serious help. Ranma belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, WoW is property of Blizzard Entertainment, and Final Fantasy Tactics is property of Square Soft.

This version of the chapter has had some editing and a few of the scenes have been rewritten or modified (July 2011).

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><p><strong>A Brave Story<strong>

Chapter Two: The City within the City.

The girl tried again.

Well known for her stubbornness, she willed her mind into a state of concentration. Pulling back the threads of magic, she wove them into the pattern she desired. After a few seconds, she felt the familiar tug of energy doing her bidding. The magical tendrils congregated between her hands slowly, and she let herself feel a pang of relief and pride that it was finally working. An instant later, she felt more than heard the whoosh of freezing air that pushed her back, making her tumble from her chair in an embarrassing pile of clothes and limbs on the ground.

Hurriedly, she stood up. Her delicate hands nervously smoothed her robes, while her cheeks colored in shame and anger. She looked around and found her classmates looking at her, some with sympathetic looks and others snickering at her misfortune. _I hate these robes, and I hate this class even more. _Her desk was literally ice-solid in its original place right in front of her; she could hear the cracking of the frozen wood that, thankfully, was loud enough to cover the sound made by her grinding teeth.

She looked down nervously, trying to dust her robes. At the same time she was willing herself to ignore what she knew was about to happen. The sharp sound of a hand hitting a desk forced her to look up, and into the condescending eyes of her teacher; Lady Hinako Ninomiya.

"If I didn't know better, I would say that you almost did it this time, Tendo." The pretentious woman walked softly towards her, looking down at the frozen desk with a thoughtful frown. She had long, shinny black hair, and tight fitting black robes that finely complemented her well-endowed figure. "After all these months wasted on you, you still don't grasp the finer points of Frost Magic. Apparently, wealth and a good family name aren't always everything…"

Looking at her feet, the shorter girl murmured something extremely rude.

"What did _you_ say Tendo?" The older woman looked at her with an amused smile, delicate hands fingering an ebony wand. "I beg your pardon, but I did not _completely_ hear what you just said."

Akane, for that was her name, looked up at her teacher defiantly. "I apologize Lady Ninomiya, I lost my concentrat…"

The attractive teacher interrupted. "Perhaps we are not doing this in the most appropriate manner." The older woman turned around slowly to address the rest of the class. She ignored the incensed girl. "Maybe we should all help _Lady_ Tendo remember the basics of magic channeling… Yamato please, demonstrate the previous exercise for _Lady_ Tendo; make it is as clear as possible, or she will not comprehend."

A tall boy with pale hair, sitting almost at the back of the class stood up from his seat, and turning towards Akane smirked. "You better pay attention Tendo, I will only do it once." The young man brought his hands in front of his face leaving a space of several inches between them. Closing his eyes in concentration he murmured something, and almost instantly a bluish light appeared between them. The light coalesced into a tiny vortex of air and light, that little by little, congealed into a perfectly round, three-inch diameter sphere of blue ice. It was all done with the outmost ease.

Akane was not looking. Her eyes set on the floor in impotent rage, while her nails were digging into the flesh of her hands. Lady Ninomiya was aware of this but did not seem to care. "Take a seat Tendo, I expect you to pay attention to your lessons and perform adequately." The older woman walked back towards her desk and turned around towards her class. Once Akane was on her seat she looked directly into her eyes. "Your constant failure to learn even the most basic of topics is a dishonor to your family. Rest assured, I shall personally inform General Tendo about your unbecoming behavior."

Akane looked up, fire burning in her eyes. _I hate that woman!_

"From now on, we shall not waste time reviewing what should be part of everyone's basic knowledge in this class. We will follow up with the casting of more complex spells, like Frost Bolt…" Sensei Ninomiya went on to explain the intricacies involved in the casting of more advanced magic, but Akane was too distressed to pay any attention.

Akane had been attending classes at Furinkan Academy for almost a year now. She had never intended to be here, and if it were up to her, she would never lay a foot in that place again. When she was younger she had been privately tutored along with her sisters, and her father had trained her in the family school of Martial Arts.

After a few minutes, her temper cooled down and she looked around. Her class was composed by over twenty students; more than half of them female. The classroom was spacious with enough room for thirty people, and everyone was sitting comfortably on padded chairs with a small wooden desk in front of them. This particular room was located in one of the large towers in the Mage Quarter of Furinkan Academy; the walls were made of thick granite stone, and even though winter was just a few weeks away, the temperature was as comfortable as it was in spring. At times, magic could be a wonderful thing.

At other times it was a nightmare.

She had always been content with studying Musabetsu Kakuto Tendo Ryu -her family school of martial arts- and thanks to hers and her father's efforts, she was also an accomplished student of the Righteous Sword School of armed combat.

Then, when she was thirteen it was discovered that -like her sisters and her mother before them- she had a high affinity for magic. Subsequently, it was decided that when she became fifteen, she would be enrolled in magical training at the most prestigious school in the land. Akane sighed. It had all seemed so exciting back then.

Furinkan Military Academy has three different programs of magical training, all three under two of the most powerful and influential institutions in Nerima City. The Church of Glabados -under Cardinal Draclau himself- arbitrates the first two: Paladin and Priest instruction. While the Church is in charge of the disciplines of The Light, The Arcane Circle –under the command of Count Elmdor- is responsible of teaching the Elemental and Arcane arts.

After she was enrolled in the Academy, she underwent a series of tests to find out which of all the magic disciplines would be best suited for her, and the results were surprising. Like most of the few people who ever develop a talent for magic, her core was attuned to elemental magic, but -unlike most of them- the test results seemed to indicate that her magical core was unusually powerful, even more so than her -already well above average- sisters.

Then school began. She had been so excited, the first few weeks were pleasant enough; for some unknown reason, her 'genius' status had been made public knowledge even before she started her tutelage in the Mage Quarter. Being that she was the daughter of an already prestigious clan, she became a popular hit instantly. The instructors adored her, and everybody showered her with kindness and respect. Too bad it didn't last.

After the first few sessions with her instructors, it became apparent that she wasn't as gifted as previously anticipated. Her arcane abilities were well below the standards of any beginner; when she summoned food, her creations were so horrible that at one point one of the magical labs had to be closed and was not reopened for the remainder of the season. Her fire elemental experiments always ended in disasters. When it came down to it, they always took a life of their own, and became monstrous aberrations that destroyed everything in their path. Her control, when it came to fire was so atrocious that the Council decided to ban her from casting any fire spells in Academy property. And finally, her frost spells were non-existent. Her only chance at having a successful magical career was obliterated like snow inside an active volcano. No matter how much she tried, studied or who helped her she could not cast a frost spell to save her life; even now, after almost one year of hard work, she couldn't even muster the weakest of frost-based spells.

After a while the rumors began to spread. One by one the people who in the beginning cheered for her, the same students and teachers that admired her and wanted to be around her, disappeared. All the high regard and admiration was replaced by disdain and contempt in the blink of an eye. In those days things like 'she has no talent' and 'whoever said she was a genius needs to be committed' were but the kindest of comments that she had to endure. Akane sighed; at least she could always fall back in to her martial arts and swordsmanship, those were the two things that no one could take away from her.

The shuffling of her classmates interrupted her musings; they were getting ready to step out of the classroom. Apparently class was over. She looked towards Lady Ninomiya who was talking about the assignments for next week. Akane sighed; just looking at the woman brought her dark-mood back. At least she had some money saved; maybe she had enough to get Nabiki's help on this issue.

She just knew she was going to regret that thought.

* * *

><p>Ranma sighed. It had been a long day… scratch that… a long month.<p>

It had been well over a month, since he had first embarked out on the mission to retrieve the mysterious package with his men and the Scarlet Buffoons. Even though the first week or so had been a relatively painless ordeal, it did not make the last four weeks any easier.

The young man was riding a black horse. They were following a small caravan of horse-pulled carts with several armed men from the Scarlet Guard. He was frowning at the last of the carts, from which a long chain of grunts and curses was emanating. He was about to get in to yell at Ebisu and Gosunkugi -the only two occupants in the compartment of the vehicle- when the later came tumbling out of it and onto the ground, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the right wooden wheel.

_Maybe I should just leave him there, such a pain in the ass. _Ranma got off the horse and helped the other boy stand up. He was filthy and smelled like he hadn't taken a bath in a week, which in fact happened to be the case. "What the hell is wrong with you two? Can't you keep quiet for at least a few hours? We are almost to the city!"

Gosunkugi just grumbled grumpily and dusted his posterior. Ebisu –the youngest of them all- pulled his face out of the curtains of the cart, and grinned at his captain sheepishly. "Sorry boss, but he was starting to stink up the place, and I'm still too weak to be smelling such foul odors."

Ranma sighed and Gosunkugi grumbled some more. "He's got a point Gos. Why the hell didn't you take a bath yesterday when we stopped by the stream?"

"It was cold!" Ranma looked at him pointedly. "It was cold, and there was no privacy!"

"Gos, you have been living in a Military fortress for over three years now, with hundreds of men who don't know the meaning of privacy…" When the squire didn't answer, Ranma pointed towards the black stallion. "Look man, just get on the damn horse and keep quiet. We're all tired and want to get to Nerima, have a nice meal and rest." _At least he stopped running around and nailing those freaky dolls all over the place._ Ranma helped him onto the saddle and then started walking in front of the horse.

From the front of the carriage came a tired voice, it was Hiroshi who had the horse reigns in his hands. "How long before we get there, Saotome? This trip feels longer by the minute."

Ranma opened his mouth to answer but was beat to it by Daisuke, who was next to Hiroshi on the driver's seat. "Shouldn't be more than a couple of hours, man." He pointed at the front of the caravan, where they could see some kind of building at the distance. "That's one of the farms. The closer we get to the city the more of them we will see, and then the city itself will be easily visible from there."

"I guess Hiroshi just wants to get there to see Sayuri." Ebisu was still grinning. "Too bad she doesn't even know his name!"

"Argg… Ebisu! I told you to shut up with that!" Throwing the reigns aside, a red-faced Hiroshi turned around and jumped inside the cart compartment, not looking very happy. Daisuke almost fell off the cart trying to make sure the reigns didn't fall. "I'll maim you, you little brat!"

Ranma smiled amusedly at the sight. The car would shake side to side, and sometimes it would even jump to the rhythm of their squabble. Daisuke could barely keep himself from falling, holding tightly to the front seat. "Quit it you morons! I'm falling down!"

"Ack… come on man, you know I was just kidding!" Ebisu's head came out of the compartment looking red with effort. "Boss help! He's killing me!"

"Shut up you punk! Take it like a man!"

The pigtailed teenager still smiling, got closer to the wildly moving cart "Hehehe… just leave him alone Hiro, you know he was just pulling your leg." The squabble was interrupted temporarily.

Hiroshi looked sourly at the younger boy. "The next time, Saotome won't be around to save your raggedy-ass."

"Jeez Hiro, you have to chill out, man." Ebisu still hadn't lost his smile. "We all know that the one who can't wait to see his girls is the boss. Few girls can compete with Akane and Ranko in the looks department."

There was silence for a few seconds and then everybody, even Hiroshi started laughing.

"On second thought," Ranma didn't look amused, "forget I said anything Hiro, beat his ass."

The two started bickering once more, and the cart started moving wildly again, but Ranma wasn't paying attention anymore. _Why can't they get it in their minds that we are just friends?_

Akane was the youngest daughter of Soun Tendo, -General Genma's best friend- and as such they still kept in contact, even though they lived hundreds of miles apart. Ranma and his father had been visiting the Tendos for years and whenever either of the Saotomes was in Nerima, they would stay at the Tendo compound.

Ranma still could remember several years back, when he had been in one of his visits to the Tendos; he had been reading an exercise from an interesting book he had acquired, there was a complication after which a girl had been found. This girl did not know how she got there, and -more strange still- she did not even know her own name. She appeared to suffer from amnesia. After much investigation the Tendos decided to adopt her into the clan and named her Ranko, in honor of Ranma, who was the person who originally found her. Ever since, whenever anyone asked, Akane and Ranko claimed to be cousins, and were inseparable.

Ranma sighed and picked up the pace. The rest of the caravan was slightly ahead of his group, they now had to catch up. Thankfully everybody, even Hiroshi and Ebisu had fallen into a comfortable silence by then.

The pigtailed young man had been thinking a lot about the whole issue with the leather package, and everything else that happened nearly a month earlier. The day after his fight with the Musk warrior, he had been dreading the questions that would invariably be asked by Hiro and Dai. He really didn't want to lie to them but the alternative was not an option.

When he crossed the river he found them passed out on the ground, and he was relieved to see that they were ok. Daisuke had been pretty shocked from the whole experience, and it took some time before he could walk without making himself sick. Apparently, he had been caught by the shockwave in the first explosion from Ranma's own _Shadow Blaze._

Hiroshi was in better shape but equally exhausted. It took them the better part of the day just to get some food into them, and be in good enough condition to start their trip back to the fortress. Thankfully, Ranma's apprehension turned out to be unfounded. His friends did ask if he knew what had happened the night before, but a simple "We had some unexpected help," was enough to appease their curiosity. He knew he would have to tell them the whole story at one point, but for the moment it was enough.

They had traveled on foot for several days, and the weather was good, however, it was still a very slow process. Ranma knew that even though Hiro and Dai were slightly older than him they were less experienced in combat than he was. It was driven home at night when they suffered from nightmares, all related to the bloodshed they had been forced to watch. He hadn't said anything; he had no idea of what to say.

After a few days of travel they met the remaining survivors of the Scarlet Buffoons. Ranma was almost ecstatic when he found out that all his men had survived. Ebisu, the one member he saw fall during battle had been seriously wounded on the shoulder, and lost a lot of blood, fortunately for him, one of the Scarlet Guard healers had been able to treat his wounds. Gosunkugi had been beaten, spit on and dragged trough the mud, but he had been otherwise fine, scared as hell, but fine.

After arriving at the fortress, Ranma had wanted to talk to his Old Man to get some answers, but it had been harder than usual to get a hold of him. Mr. Kumon -Genma's right-hand man- had issued a new mission for them; this time they were to escort the weakened Scarlet Guard back to Nerima.

It should not be necessary to point out that Ranma was enraged by this. His team was in no condition to go into another mission as they were, Ebisu had been seriously wounded, and they were all exhausted. They would need at least a couple of weeks before they could recover.

Ranma rubbed his face in frustration. There had been no getting away from it. He had gone running to his Old Man's quarters with the intention of beating some sense into his bald head. He even had a minor altercation with his guards… all right, so he had beaten the shit out of them, but they had asked for it by not letting him go into his own father's chambers.

In the end he had been in no position to refuse. Apparently, some stupid package – the same one that had gotten them all in such trouble to begin with – could not wait the few extra days that his team would need to rest. The pigtailed teen could not believe how such a pathetic bundle of leather could be so important. According to Mr. Kumon's orders they would be departing the next day, some supplies and fresh horses were already set-aside for them.

The caravan kept riding, Ranma walking behind the last cart enjoying the cool weather and the –for him– moderate pace. The young man looked ahead and could see that the corn and wheat farms seemed to be even closer than the last time he checked. If they hurried up, they would arrive in Nerima well before sunset.

* * *

><p>Ranko didn't make a sound. Carefully, she moved some of the branches aside and without breathing, looked in the direction of the building she had just escaped from. After a few minutes of silence, she sighed.<p>

As extraordinary as this 'City within the City' was, she would gladly go away to never return. The view and architecture of the famed Furinkan Military Academy were impressive enough, she supposed, but risking running into that prick Kuno would take the charm out of Lionel Castle itself. The enamored self-serving bastard had been bothering her - and Akane - for months now.

She looked around once more, and made sure that her pursuers were nowhere near the trees where she was hiding in. After feeling safe enough she jumped down and running gracefully, headed in the direction of the nearest tower. She was at the line where the Keep met with the Mage Quarter section of the Academy. Shaking her red hair, she looked at the tower. It was seven floors high, and every floor was about eleven feet tall, she surmised. On the side of it a wall -twenty feet in height- ran from the tower all the way to the end of the road. On the other side of this wall, she knew she would find another road next to a waterway that coursed most of the Academy Complex.

Getting on top of it was an easily accomplished task; a light jump got her on top and to the other side. Still keeping an eye open for the 'Blue Thunder Brigade'-the brain-damaged portion of Hokuten- she walked towards the bridge that crossed the artificial channel, and continued her trip to the middle of Mage Square. The architecture on this side was very different from what could be found in the Keep. It consisted mostly, on beautifully designed towers of grey granite and white marble, the decoration looked almost ethereal, which gave the whole area a feeling of opulence.

In contrast, the Keep had been much more Spartan. Its buildings looked robust and fortress-like, with very thick walls. And from previous experience she knew, that if she were to walk in to Cathedral Square -the third and last section of the Academy- she would feel as if she were stepping into some church of old, big, and very majestic.

Feeling confident that she would not be found, the attractive redhead kept walking at a more sedate pace. The roads on this side were also a bit wider, and the types of shops that were found here were of a more exotic nature. 'House of the Mystic and Arcane' was a large, three-story bookstore that seemed to be popular with the high class magic casters of Nerima, while 'The Slaughtered Lamb' was a small and shady underground tavern, no less popular, but usually visited by a very different kind of customer. The funny thing was, that they were less than a quarter of mile apart from each other.

After walking for about half an hour she finally arrived to her intended destination. There were three towers in close proximity, all of them four-story tall. They were laid out in a triangular formation, with the towers forming the three points in the triangle. The area remotely resembled a park, with benches under trees with large foliages for shade, and the buildings were interconnected by small walkways that covered the whole grounds. To the side, the 'Mystic Inn' could be seen at a distance, and down the road, another strange-looking magical shop advertised its wares in a colorful fashion.

Ranko walked to the group of benches closest to the one tower, where she knew Akane would be attending class. Looking around she decided to stand, leaning back in a casual stance against one of trees. A few feet away, a group of older boys wearing green robes were talking among themselves, and after a few minutes she could tell she was part of their conversation. Some of the lewd comments left no doubt about the subject of their little chat.

Her considerations about beating them up were interrupted by another, more pressing matter. Two men wearing militaristic uniforms -consisting of white tunic and black pants- walked by, they had the long, red and black cloaks that designated them as soldiers of Hokuten. Without being noticed the red-haired girl shifted, her body seemed to shimmer for a second and then it became translucent until she was completely invisible. The next time the group of boys turned around to look at her, they seemed to be a little startled that she was no longer there.

For her part, Ranko kept her attention on the two men. She knew that she was probably being paranoid. Kuno's 'Blue Thunder Brigade' wore the same colors, but -unlike these men- Kuno's little deranged group wore samurai outfits. Hokuten was the military arm of the Furinkan Complex. They were led by General Kuno, whose son had gathered a group of followers that -like him- were obsessed with an ancient school of swordsmanship.

As far as Ranko was concerned, Tatewaki Kuno -the self-appointed leader of the 'Blue Thunder Brigade'- was by far the biggest pervert, and biggest pain in the ass the world had ever seen. He was constantly making her job of protecting Akane, that much more difficult. It didn't help that the Keep –Hokuten's base of operations- was between the Tendo Compound and the Mage Quarter.

Thankfully, the two men kept walking until they disappeared into the next street. They were obviously on patrol. _You can never be too careful, though. _After waiting for a few seconds, Ranko relaxed once more. The students were starting to disperse back into one of the towers, their break obviously over for the moment.

Intending to get her attention back to the tower where Akane would be coming out of, she almost missed her friend. She was wearing a light-toned blue robe; one of the same ones that the temperamental girl hated so much, and on her right hand had her black-leather satchel. Ranko started at a slow jog towards the departing girl. She could see that Akane was obviously distressed; no doubt she had another setback in class. These days she had few good things to say about Furinkan Academy.

"'Kane! Wait for me!" The redhead was either unheard or ignored, she decided to jog towards the black-haired girl.

* * *

><p>Akane kept a brisk pace. She had known Ranko would be expecting her and she had also heard the other girl calling her name, but at this moment she couldn't deal with her friend. She would not understand.<p>

Akane ran towards the closest wall and jumped on top of it; once there she fussed with her robe and took it off. Underneath, she was wearing a simple set of black silk pants and a white, short-sleeved shirt. Her attire was identical to the one Ranko was wearing. After stashing the green robe in the satchel she started on her way home. She knew she wasn't fast enough to outrun Ranko so she wouldn't even try. Seconds later she felt the other girl's presence behind her, for the moment she didn't say anything.

Akane had never though about it, but when she walked on top of of the large wall it became harder for the people below to be aware of her. At this moment, she was thankful for it.

They both kept walking in silence, Akane pondering her situation and barely paying attention to her surroundings. They got to a point where they had to get off the wall, cross a street and take another one to a different direction. They repeated this a few times until they got to the bridge that would lead them into the Keep..

"You know Akane, maybe we should take the other way." Ranko looked at her and yawned. "Kuno's idiots have been acting up again, I don't think beating them to a pulp will help your mood that much."

_You would be surprised. _Akane kept walking, Ignoring both Ranko and a female classmate who greeted her while passing by.

Ranko sighed. "I think I have an idea of what happened, but maybe, if you talked about it, you might feel a bit better."

Akane stopped and turned to look at her, a sad expression on her face. "I don't know what to do Ranko… what else can I do?" Then she turned around and continued on her path. "Things have gotten so much out of control and I am starting to lose hope."

Ranko picked up the pace until she was right next to the black haired girl. "Just because your mom was a mage, and Nabiki is a mage doesn't mean you have to be one." Her voice had a gentle tone to it. "You are more than good at what your father teaches you."

"It's just that… I…" Akane slowed down a bit. "I don't think you would understand, Ranko, I have to do this. I know I can do this, it's in my blood."

Ranko sighed. "I know you can, it's just that… you are so depressed all the time now, don't let other people ruin it for you like this. So what if Lady Hinako or all the other teachers think that you are a 'waste of time' like you said, they don't matter."

"I think… I think I will ask Nabiki for help again, she is so good at it…" Akane shook her head. "If someone can teach me about frost magic, it has to be her."

"You really are desperate." Ranko was looking at her friend with wide eyes. "This is probably going to cost you. A lot."

"I know."

"What do you have that she wants?" The red head had a knowing look on her face. "You have to have something on her, only then would you even consider this."

Akane was silent for a few seconds then smiled. "Well, remember that book she is always asking me about?" She turned towards the red head and motioned with her hands. "It really isn't that big, about a hundred pages or so. She has always wanted it, practically since she knew I had it."

"A book? There are way too many books at the compound. Hmm… I would think she would want tons of money, that is all she cares about."

"Well yes… but she is also interested in knowledge." Akane looked thoughtful for a moment. "Also… well, the book used to belong to my mother, it was one of the few things that my father gave me after she had passed away, apparently she wanted me to have it."

Ranko looked a bit alarmed. "It belonged to your mom? I don't know if you should let Nabiki have it then… she left if to you for a reason." She stopped for a second. "Your mother wasn't known as the most intelligent woman in a hundred years for nothing, you know?"

The late Mrs. Tendo had been one of those rare talents that are born once every several generations. The stories said that she had been doing magic since before she was old enough to walk. Later on she went on to become the most brilliant and powerful mage in all of Ivalice. It was said that only Count Elmdor himself could come close to rival her in her arcane prowess, and the Count was much older than her. It was probably one of the very reasons why there had been such high expectations when her daughter joined Furinkan.

Akane furrowed her brow. "Don't you think I have thought about that?" Visibly calming herself she continued. "The thing is, I can't even read what it says, it's all written in this weird gibberish. I once asked Doctor Tofu about it but he had never seen anything like it before."

Ranko smiled coquettishly. "Ah… the doctor eh? Why do things always come back to him?" She had to jump back to avoid a halfhearted swing. "Aww… come on Akane, everybody knows you have a thing for the good Doc."

Akane's cheeks reddened perceptively, then she lowered her head and quickened her pace. "Shut up, Ranko. That was a long time ago, stop bringing it up!" The redhead, thinking that Akane had already suffered enough for the day, kept her mouth shut.

"Still though… You are not really giving her that book, right?" She seemed to think it was important.

"I don't know, maybe I can get some money from father to pay her."

"You could just tell him, you know. Old man Tendo would have a fit if he knew his middle daughter was trying to squeeze her younger sister for cash."

"I think he would hardly care." Akane looked thoughtful. "He has been preoccupied with other things lately, some of the ventures outside of the city haven't been going as smoothly as usual."

Ranko turned to look at the black haired girl. "Now that you mention it… the Black Sheep Knights have been very active as of late. Old man Teuchi told me that they have been coming in and out of the city on a daily basis for the last couple of months."

Akane nodded. "You know how he doesn't tell us anything. Nabiki was saying that it was related to Aorias in the west, something about more attacks from the desert people." Akane stopped and turned back to look at Ranko who had stopped and was looking at a small shop nearby.

"Ranko?"

"Akane you have to see this…" The redhead took her friend's hand and pulled her inside the shop, once there Akane could see that it was some kind of refreshment establishment.

"Uh? I have never seen this place here, is it new?"

"Oh Akane, you have to try it, it's incredible!" The redhead was bouncing up and down, her eyes shining with excitement.

Akane looked at the counter. A group of girls were receiving what looked like cones made of some brown substance, topped off with colored balls the size of small oranges. All the girls looked almost as excited as Ranko was.

After the girls left, an older woman with two excited children walked up to the counter and placed an order. Ranko, in the meanwhile took Akane by the hand and pulled her towards a large, waist-high wooden box with a paneled cover made of glass. Inside the box were several metal buckets filled with some of the same multi-colored substance, that the girls had on their cones. The panels were cold to the touch.

After the woman and the happy children left, it was their turn at the counter. The attendant was a young man in his middle twenties, he looked bored at first but perked up the moment he saw them. Ranko started spouting off random flavors at an incredible speed, she also moved from box to box examining its contents before calling out more flavors.

Akane had to admit that she was impressed. The man that at first looked bored to tears was now trembling in excitement, his face was now flushed, and he seemed to hold onto every word the redhead said. Akane had seen the effect Ranko had in men on several occasions, but never in such magnitude. Whenever she got excited about something, she seemed to hold complete control over them, something that Ranko herself did not seem to realize.

By the time the redhead was done, she was sporting a huge cone; at least twice as big as the one the previous customers had, but hers had a towering nine balls of the strange substance, all in different colors. Ranko looked enthralled by the sight. Akane wasn't sure if it was safe and prudent to order one anymore. That thing seemed to bewitch people just as bad as Ranko bewitched the man at the counter.

The young man looked at her expectantly. "Ummm…" Akane shrugged her shoulders.

"She wants one like mine!"

The young man moved towards the pile of large cones but Akane awkwardly interrupted. "Ahh no… I want a small one, please?"

The man shrugged his shoulders and grabbed a smaller cone. "Which flavor would you like Ma'am?" Ranko muttered something that sounded an awfully lot like 'sissy girl'.

Akane's eyes shoot daggers at the redhead, and then turned around to address the man. "What is this stuff? I've never seen anything like it before."

The young man smiled. "It's a very old recipe Milady. It's believed that it was quite popular back before the great cataclysm. We think we might be the first ones to make it in over a thousand years!" He looked proud indeed. "We call it Frosty Cream."

Akane whistled in a low tone, then pointed at one of the buckets with the yellow-colored substance. "What kind of flavor is that?"

"Vanilla."

"I will have one of those please."

Ranko seemed disappointed in her lack of choice and quantity. The man refused to charge them, and Akane found herself walking out of the parlor with a hand full of Frosty Cream and the other full of beaming redhead.

The redhead took two huge bites of her Frosty Cream, and looked at her expectantly. Akane wasn't sure if taking a bite was the right thing to do, but she did it anyways and it was… wonderful!

No, wonderful just didn't cut it… it had to be the best thing in the world, she couldn't believe how no one had decided to sell the stuff until now.

"See? How do you like it Akane?" The redhead asked, still looking expectantly.

Akane didn't answer, instead took the biggest bite she had ever taken out of anything in her life. _This stuff is good!_ Then she tried to swallow, but it was so cold that she felt like her head had been frozen by one of her own misfired frost spells. The sharp pain made her perform a ridiculous gig on her feet, to the amusement of the laughing redhead.

"You have to take it slow Akane!"

The two girls started walking towards the east gates that led outside of the Complex. From that location they would walk briskly for another half-hour before they reached the Tendo Compound. Akane learned her lesson, and after a while she was enjoying the new treat immensely. The redhead was wolfing hers down like a starving puppy. When they finished, they were both wondering if they could go back for more.

A grating, slightly nasally voice, interrupted their contemplation.

"Fortune seems to be on our side today, boys."

Both girls turned around. There were about twenty boys -all around their age- wearing samurai attire. The top part white and the bottoms in black; on their shoulders they had long red and black elegant capes, and if one looked carefully enough, one would find that a red rose was embroidered on their chests, where their hearts would be. It was all nicely complemented by the long 'katana' swords on their hands.

Ranko sighed and took a ready stance. Akane gritted her teeth. "What the hell do you idiots want?"

One of the bolder members of the 'Blue Thunder Brigade' stepped to the front. "Just what is rightfully ours, Milady. Master Kuno himself has decreed that, only by defeating you both in combat shall we prove to be worthy of your love!" The rest of the group called out in agreement.

Ranko decided that she had enough. The only thing that pissed her more than this bunch of morons was the idiot Tatewaki himself. She was about to attack, when Akane's soft voice interrupted her.

"Don't get involved Ranko."

The redhead turned around. She would usually ignore such a command, but the look on Akane's face made her reconsider. Instead of the usual expression of rage and frustration that the other girl had on these battles, she had a slightly-cruel smile. Apparently the temperamental girl wanted to vent some steam. Ranko smiled back and then nodded. She would keep an eye open in case things got too serious, but she knew Akane was miles above these idiots when it came down to skill and strength. Hopefully, the retarded branch of Hokuten would learn a new lesson tonight. Akane might look like an ordinary girl with her long, soft-looking hair and delicate frame, but in the past, she had seen those arms go trough granite boulders whenever enough motivation had been provided.

* * *

><p>Kenjiro ran even faster the moment he saw them, behind him, he could hear the heavy footsteps of Mattai and Evans. Lady Akane and her guardian Ranko, were within the confines of the Keep.<p>

He had been near headquarters when he heard the news from one of the junior members of Hokuten. The two beautiful girls had been spotted near the eastern entrance to the Complex.

At that moment he knew this was his opportunity. Tatewaki Kuno had been away from the Academy for days now, and no one was sure when he would return. Kenjiro was able to recognize when an opportunity presented itself, and he knew himself to be ambitious and competent enough to take it. This was his chance.

He had always wanted to occupy a position of higher regard within Hokuten, unfortunately, even with his tremendous skill with the sword, that idiot Tatewaki had always out-staged him. Of course, Kuno was an outstanding swordsman, and if Kenjiro were to be honest enough, he would come to the conclusion that there was no one amongst the students who came even close to challenging Kuno in his chosen art. Still, skill wasn't everything. Tatewaki's many followers were with him because of his prowess with the sword, that much was true, but Kenjiro could also see how many were waiting for someone with vision, who would step in and take command. The young Kuno's obsession with such intangible things as honor and poetry had made him many enemies, even within his own "Blue Thunder Brigade".

The word had been spread far and wide by then. There were about two-dozen members of the Brigade, all of them sporting their swords and uniforms. The two girls were reaching for the massive doors when Kenjiro decided to get their attention. He licked his lips.

"Fortune seems to be on our side today, boys."

The two girls turned around, seemingly a bit surprised. He saw how Akane tensed and clenched her fists, while her redheaded guardian took a loose stance.

"What the hell do you idiots want?"

To his right, Evans took a step forward. "Just what is rightfully ours, Milady. Master Kuno himself has decreed that, only by defeating you-both in combat shall we prove to be worthy of your love!" Most of his peers –including Kenjiro- called out in agreement.

Kenjiro snickered. That was the whole reason for this farce. Tatewaki Kuno, Scion of the House of Kuno, in all his wisdom, had decided that anyone who wished to date either of the Tendo girls would have to defeat them in honorable combat. As the story went, the overly-confident Tatewaki Kuno had been presumptuous enough to assume that Akane Tendo would be delighted to go out on a date with him. She had politely declined in several occasions, but the self-proclaimed 'Blue Thunder' could not find a place in his heart for rejection, so in his usual bull-headed fashion Tatewaki went ahead and challenged her to armed combat. The Tendo girl turned out to be more than proficient enough with weapons and ended up giving the swordsman a trashing. Kuno would not accept defeat and challenged her again; only to get his ass kicked by Ranko this time, who turned out to be Akane's cousin. Ever since then he had been challenging them whenever possible, and on the way, got many others interested in doing the same.

Kenjiro looked around. All the members of the Brigade seemed to be excited to have this opportunity; most of them had never done battle with either of the Tendo girls. On the other side Akane took a step forward, and strangely, her companion stood back. This was a rare occurrence, Kenjiro knew; for Ranko could always be counted on to protect the other girl.

He smiled.

This was turning out to be the perfect opportunity, indeed. Kuno was out of the Academy for an undetermined amount of time, and now, Akane was to take on her challengers by herself. If he could raise above all others, he would receive his ticket into his much-wanted position of power. Anyone who could defeat the Tendo heir, would gain much in the eyes of his peers.

Kenjiro turned to his left and motioned with his head, Mattai getting the message motioned back. On the other side Evans did the same. After a few seconds most of the men charged at the same time, their swords waving wildly in the air.

They had planned this for months. When the opportunity presented itself, Kenjiro, Mattai and Evans would wait for the most appropriate moment. They would let the mob of samurai wannabes attack in waves, until the girls were softened by exhaustion. Very simple, very clean.

Kenjiro turned his attention back to the fight.

The samurai had finally reached Akane's position and attacked in-group. The girl, for her part waited until the last moment to avoid a slash from one of the first attackers, grabbing his sword-hand she drove her knee hard into his stomach knocking him out instantly and taking his weapon. With sword in hand she parried the next few blows and jumped over the next attacker using his head as pivot, standing behind him she took him out with a blow to the back of the head.

Two more men came from her right doing identical downward slashes with their katana, the black-haired girl blocked them both simultaneously, and with a hard trust of her sword disarmed them both. Being suitable impressed, they did not see when she rolled down and swept their feet from under them with a sweeping kick, then she took them out with an equally hard downwards kick to their faces. Standing up Akane turned to face her other attackers. These ones, a bit smarter than the previous took a second to analyze the situation, the small group of men then started to surround her.

Kenjiro kept his eagle-like attention on the battle. Her skills were outstanding, and her strength unheard of for someone so small. At moments she seemed a bit unfamiliar with the weapon, she handled it like she was used to larger, heavier swords, and with her being the daughter of 'the Invincible Cid' it really wasn't a surprise. Even with her handicap, Akane took them out one by one and sometimes even in groups. Kenjiro couldn't help but wince when one of his comrades got kicked between the legs, thankfully, the boy passed out soon after.

The battle took several minutes. Every time Akane was attacked, she returned payment brutally. As the fight went on, many members of the Brigade screamed in pain when bones were broken, and each time the black haired girl took mercy on them by knocking them out immediately. Finally, right when the sun was setting over the horizon, only Kenjiro, Mattai and Evans remained standing. The girl faced them, eyes challenging, and chest heaving to get some much-needed air into her lungs.

Kenjiro smiled calmly. To his left Mattai was taking his _kataginu_ off, leaving his chest bare; from around the waist he unrolled a long steel chain and with his right hand he drew his sword in a quick, practiced move. At his other side, Evans stood in a low stance, his left hand on the scabbard of his katana, the other ready to draw at a moments notice. Both men were moving to surround the girl between them.

"Is it your turn now? Or have you had enough?" The girl was obviously annoyed by the whole situation, something that didn't seem to bother Kenjiro.

"Actually… I don't think I have introduced myself, Lady Akane. My Name is Kenjiro Ichigawa and," motioning to his left and right respectively, he continued "these are Mattai and Evans, two good friends of mine."

The girl just looked at them warily, both hands on the sword.

"You see," Kenjiro continued lazily. "We just want to help you."

Akane raised a delicate eyebrow; "You mean… you want to help me by taking my head off with a sword? No thank you, I sure as hell don't need that kind of help."

Kenjiro didn't lose his smile. "Don't you see? If I defeat you in combat and take you as mine, no one else will have reason to bother you, you will finally be free of all this hassle." Kenjiro looked at Mattai who had a sinister grin on his face, on the other side Evans stood impassive. "We all win!"

The redhead who until now had kept quiet, let out a low growl, it sounded kind of eerie coming out from her petite frame. "Like hell you will… I will cut your balls off with a spoon and feed them back to you before you can draw that sword of yours!"

"Indeed you will?" Mattai answered, looking more amused than worried, "and how do you intend to do that, Red?"

"I will show you, you bastard!" The infuriated redhead moved her right hand back and instantly, a long, leather-whip appeared in it, a mighty _crack_ was clearly heard when she brought it to bear on Mattai, who barely had time to dodge.

"Ranko, I told you to stay out of this!" Akane was glaring daggers at her again. The redhead sighed and stood back.

"Very well then," Kenjiro continued smoothly. "Lets finish this, I wouldn't want to waste anymore of your precious time."

Producing three small throwing knives, Kenjiro threw them at Akane who dodged them effortlessly. A that moment, a flash from her left alerted her to the other attacker, she tried to bring the sword down for a parry and was startled to find the steel chain wrapped near the handle, ignoring it for the moment she rolled to the right and dodged a vicious slash from Evans.

Kenjiro smirked nastily at the black-haired girl. "Just let me know when you are ready to give up, Akane, for now we will just help you realize that you have no choice." He charged at her knowing that Mattai's chain would greatly reduce her ability to defend herself with the sword.

At that same moment Evans charged towards her, his left hand once more on the scabbard and the other ready for another disembowelment technique. By jumping to the side the girl was barely able to avoid him, but Kenjiro's slash almost cut her midair, she evaded it by flipping backwards at the last second. Mattai on the other side tried pulling on the chain to undermine her mobility, but the chain didn't give an inch, it just got Akane's attention.

The black-haired girl looked at him with a frown in her delicate face, right before grabbing the chain with her left hand, the hard tug that followed almost pulled Mattai's arm out of its socket. Mattai at first tried to put resistance against the chain but soon learned that it was not to be, he felt as if he was trying to pull a rope attached to a rampaging bull. He had to let go or risk getting his arm torn off.

Evans followed his disemboweling slash with a forward trust that was deflected by Akane's newly released sword, he thought about following up with another side cut but had to roll backwards in order to avoid being hit by the steel chain, now in the hands of Akane Tendo.

Kenjiro frowned and looked at Mattai with reproach. "Why the hell did you let go? You moron!"

"She is strong!" The teenager was still rubbing his left shoulder, sword forgotten in its scabbard. "What the hell is she?"

Akane took advantage of the distraction to swing the chain at Kenjiro who almost didn't dodge it, when the chain hit the floor it made a decent-sized hole on the ground that lifted an alarming amount of dust. The black-haired girl didn't let go off the chain; instead she kept swinging it around and into her opponents, forcing them to back off.

For his part Mattai wasn't as confident anymore. He had never actually fought against her in the past, always staying at the back and observing, but now that he got close enough to see those fists in action, he was impressed. They had always said that her strength was unreal, but seeing it like this really drove it home. Their plans of holding her down with the chain had just been thrown out of the window.

Kenjiro threw several more knives at her that ended up being deflected just as easily as the previous ones, but this gave Evans another window of opportunity for one more charge. Evans ran as fast as he could, knowing well that speed was his only option against her. He drew his sword from the scabbard and continued with the slash, all in one circular motion. He gritted his teeth when her sword stopped his slash once more, _she is fast_, he tried moving his arm back for another attempt but she held him firmly by the wrist. She presented her back to Mattai, who thinking it an opportunity rushed at her with his sword drawn out for a trust. Akane pivoted on her left foot and turned around to throw Evans viciously at the charging Mattai, this last one had barely enough time to lower his sword and avoid impaling his friend in the process. Both young men kept rolling on the floor for several feet before their momentum was canceled.

Mattai jumped to his feet enraged, his back was covered in scratches and blood from sliding on the ground topless. He picked up his sword and threw two small knives at Akane, before charging wildly.

Akane drew the steel chain back and then swung it wrapping it around the enraged Mattai's arm, for a moment, he tried to remove it from his arm but it was to no avail. Akane then heaved hard on the chain pulling him along with it, the last thing Mattai saw, was the swiftly approaching fist headed towards his face.

Kenjiro winced in sympathy when Akane punched his friend's lights out. The vicious crunch indicated that Mattai would at least have a broken jaw for his trouble.

With Evans still sprawled on the floor and Mattai out of the fight, Akane turned towards Kenjiro frowning menacingly. "Is that enough for you?"

"I still have one more trick under my sleeve, Tendo." Kenjiro was seething inside. "Don't count me out yet!" _This stuck up bitch won't ruin my plans!_

Growling, Akane charged at Kenjiro, her hands grasping the sword in a double-handed grip. Ranko looked on worriedly.

Kenjiro fussed with his sleeves for a second and pulled out a bright-looking, round-shaped, red object. It all happened so fast that Akane had no chance to figure out what was going on.

Mustering all his strength, Kenjiro threw the ball in the direction of Akane, its inner fire glinting in the poor-light of the evening.

* * *

><p>Ranma yawned.<p>

The caravan had entered the city about an hour ago, and by now the excitement had been long gone. He looked at the cart closest to him, and at Hiroshi and Daisuke who seemed to be almost as bored as he was. They were all trying to ignore the excitedly-talking Ebisu, who acted as if this was his first time in Nerima. _Looks like he still has some energy left._

Ranma yawned again. He had forgotten how tiring these missions could be. No combat and no life threatening situations, but riding or walking days on end could be just as exhausting. Thankfully they would be arriving to their destination soon.

He wanted to take a shower and have dinner just as much as anyone else, so it was good news when the Scarlet Guard captain told him that they would be staying the night at the Tendo Compound. Apparently, this was also going to be where they would be dropping off their mysterious package.

And that was another thing that intrigued him. What was it? Why take it to the Tendo Compound? Shouldn't the Scarlet Guard be taking it to Rezla Military Fortress? After all, that was their base of command. Wasn't it?

He was still pissed off at the Old Man for avoiding him. He had many questions that no one was willing to answer, and they all knew that whenever he couldn't get his curiosity satisfied, he tended to disregard the rules and find out for himself. Maybe General Tendo would be willing to share some of those same answers.

Speaking of Tendos… Ranma wasn't sure how to feel about them. The last time he had visited Nerima was four months earlier, and as usual he had stayed with the General's family for almost a week. The General himself was easy enough to get along with, he was almost never home and when he was, he tended to be a good sport about things, pretty laid back -as far as military old men go- and liked to chat about the happenings of the city.

Kasumi Tendo was the oldest of the General's daughters, many things could be said about that one, and all of them good. Kasumi was probably the sweetest, most caring girl in the world, she was also a talented priestess that studied and worked part time in one of the large libraries in Cathedral Square. She was known to be one of the prodigies of Furinkan Academy. Ranma didn't have much in common with her, but he could always count on the older girl to be a good conversationalist, and no one could deny that Kasumi was a superb cook. Always a good thing in Ranma's book.

The second daughter of the Tendo Clan was probably the most dangerous of all its members. Nabiki was known as the Ice Queen, as different from Kasumi as anybody may possibly be. Ranma still remembered how badly he lost against her the last time they played poker; now that he thought about it, when they played shoji he lost pretty badly too. He could always count on the money-grubbing bitch to be there and take his money when he most needed it. As far as he understood, she was also known as a prodigy in the Mage Square of the Academy. But it wasn't Nabiki, the one who made him nervous every time he thought about the Tendos, she was a nasty piece of work, true enough, but Ranma was sure he could handle her.

"Oi! Boss look at that, it's Furinkan!" Ebisu interrupted his musings; he was flailing his arms wildly, trying to get everybody's attention. "It's so cool, look at those huge walls!"

Ranma looked in the direction that Ebisu was pointing. The huge walls were a sight to see, almost as large as the ones built around Diamond Fortress, but much more elaborate. His attention, however, was directed to what was on the other side. He could faintly feel a familiar _ki_ signature on the other side of the massive walls, and he had a feeling that he knew who it was.

"Keep going Dai." Making up his mind, Ranma ran in direction of the entrance, "I will catch up with you guys later." His team knew better than to go after him, he tended to disappear and appear as needed during missions.

It took him about a minute to reach the massive doors that provided entrance into the Keep. When Ranma got inside, he was surprised about the amount of passed-out bodies littering the streets. They had all taken some serious punishment, and were all wearing what he assumed to be a uniform.

There had obviously been a battle on a pretty large scale, but the passerby's didn't seem to be panicking. Maybe this was training? After all, he had done stranger things under the tutelage of his father.

He looked to the side and was finally able to spot whom he was looking for. There, about two hundred feet from the gates, he could see Akane, she was facing a sword-wielding opponent. A few dozen feet to the side another girl could be seen. Ranko.

Ranma started jogging towards them, a bit curious about the whole situation. _Why is Akane fighting this guy? _The lone samurai pulled out a red object from his sleeve, and threw it at Akane before turning around and running frantically the other way. Ranma's eyes widened.

If anyone paid attention to him, they would see his body flicker, before flashing and disappearing in a red and black streak.

* * *

><p>"I still have one more trick under my sleeve, Tendo. Don't count me out yet!"<p>

When she heard the words, Ranko became worried. She wasn't sure why, but the tone in which Kenjiro spoke had set off several alarm bells in her head. To make things worse Akane was charging him a second later, in that bull-headed way of hers.

When Kenjiro threw the object, she knew it couldn't be good, especially after seeing him flee like his pants were on fire. Ranko prepared herself to intercept Akane and try to dodge it, but she knew it was already too late.

Something caught her attention at the last moment. A red and black _object_ was moving towards Akane at an incredible rate of speed. It intercepted her and blocked her mad charge before hitting Kenjiro's curious red object to the side. The innocent-looking red ball bounced for about thirty feet, and hit a building before going off in a roar of flames.

That seemed to get everyone's attention.

The few passerby's' that were until now watching the confrontation excitedly, started running around yelling 'fire'. Ranko could see Kenjiro stumbling to the floor and looking at what his little toy had done, with panic-filled eyes.

When Ranko turned her attention to Akane, she wasn't surprised to see her sitting on the floor and looking at the fire in stunned silence. What really surprised her, was the pigtailed young man crouching in front of her, and looking worriedly at the black-haired girl for any injuries.

Then it hit her.

"Ranma!"

Ranko felt a strange sensation in her chest, one that she could only interpret as euphoria. _He is back! _

She started running in their direction.

* * *

><p>The man had every inch of his body and face covered in dark cloth, his dark eyes looking attentively at his surroundings while keeping his posture low. He was on the roof of a building, on top of a hill that overlooked Nerima City. He assumed this had been a watching post at one point in the past, but it had been left to rot after its usefulness was over.<p>

It would have been a great feat indeed, for someone to actually catch sight of him. His camouflage merged so well with his surroundings that only someone who already knew where he was, would have an inkling of his position. He had been asked by his leader to wait for their contact from within the city. The orders were to wait till sunset for word, if he wasn't contacted by then it would mean that there would be no change to their plans.

There was still plenty of sunlight when he saw the messenger. The fool wasn't covering his tracks and if it weren't for the fact that the idiot knew nothing about their purpose, he would have killed him on the spot. There was no place for incompetence within their organization.

The farmer was a middle-aged man wearing a big straw hat, on his right hand he had a piece of rope that was tied to the neck of a shabby-looking donkey. He looked around expecting to see someone in plain sight, and seemed to be a little miffed about the fact that no one had stepped out of the building to see him. After a few seconds he called out a greeting, then fidgeted nervously when no answer came.

The man on the roof stood there, watching, patiently waiting for any sign that this man was his contact. He was starting to think that maybe this was just some farmer that had lost his way, when the idiot below looked in the direction of the roof before calling out another greeting. _It's him. _He pulled out a long metal string from his pouch, and with a deft movement threw it at the farmer below, the wire came to rest directly around the farmer's neck and a second later, it was pulled tight. The farmer struggled, but nothing he did was able to stop the other man from heaving him on top of the roof like a strange bucket being pulled out of a rope well.

The man let the farmer breath some much-needed air, but still held him from behind. A sharp-looking knife easily materialized in his right hand before being pressed against the farmer's neck. "What's the secret word?"

"What? _Gasp…_ Who are…" the farmer panicked and tried to scream, "… let me go!"

After hitting him on the face with the back of the knife for good measure, the man calmly repeated. "I said, what's the secret word?"

"…_Powder_… the word is _black powder_!" The panicking farmer quickly put a hand into his dirty tunic and pulled out a black envelope with a wax seal. A bruise was rapidly forming on his right cheek.

The masked man took the envelope and looked at it critically, the wax seal was intact. Putting the letter away he released the old man, and turned away to leave.

"Where is my money? I was promised payment by Mr…." The farmer was holding out his right hand while the other one rubbed his neck nervously. The way the other man looked suddenly at him, made him feel even more uncomfortable.

"Ah yes, a reward… I nearly forgot." The man turned slowly back to the farmer, a smile on his cloth-covered lips. "Such outstanding services should never be left unpaid…"

Unnerved by the almost unnatural smile, the farmer stepped back and tried to speak again. The man quickly covered his mouth and with a sharp movement broke his neck.

"Hmm… I should have thanked him for reminding me. Such a nice fellow…" He lifted the corpse easily with one hand, and threw it over his shoulder before disappearing into the night. The donkey was left a few feet away, calmly eating the sparse grass on the ground.

* * *

><p>Kataginu: Top portion of the Samurai attire.<p>

Hakama: Lower portion, or pants, of the Samurai attire. Also used in formal events and ceremonies.

07/19/2011

Work on the next chapter is in progress.


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